General Care Discussion :: ?about Tobi jumpin off basking area..

[camee1991]

OK...Got a ? ..My girl has a 75 gall tank and basks alot which is fine; BUT when she is startled..(for no apparent reason) She JUMPS off the top of the ramp and goes so fast she hits the other side of the tank and then wiggles and kicks and FREAKS for a while at the bottom. She eventually calms; but it scares me like "will she break her neck"? She is heavy and BIG and that scares me MORE!

Has ANYONE had this problem or have a turt that does this?! Im afraid too that she might break the tank glass by going so hard at it! I dont know why she does it?! I make sure when she is basking and Im coming in that I call her name so she knows Im there and she wont get skittish. But this normally happens when no one is there. Like a momentary FREAK OUT or something...

Any advise!?

Camee

[RunninWideOpen]

Well I don't have any advise, but Crush does the exact same thing. Sometimes he'll even ram into one end of the tank and then turn around and ram into the other side and go back and forth a couple times. i don't understand it. for awhile he stopped doing it so badly, but now he's doing it again.

[RunninWideOpen]

maybe we need padded walls for our aquariums, haha.

[camee1991]

OMG lol No doubt! (padded ends) Tobi goes from end to end also! But usually ends up flailing at the far end a while before calming down.


Hmmm any ideas for padded ends?!

Camee

[camee1991]

Doesnt it scare you tohmit? It gives me a coronary when I see or hear it! WOW!

Cam

[RunninWideOpen]

Yes, it is quite unnerving! I mean, it's like full steam into a brick wall.

It's kinda funny though because Squirt, being his calm self, just kinda watches and tries to stay out of the way. lol.

[camee1991]

hahaha poor Squirt livin' with a maniac?! Wonder what he thinks? lol

I still wish I could prevent it though...lol

Hey check out my new pics of my girl on the photo gallery...

Camee

[SpotsMama]

At the end of the tank that the basking platform is nearest I put a little sticky so Spot would know the glass was there and wouldn't run into it. Kind of like the stickers you put on a glass door to keep birds from crashing into it. Here's a photo of what I mean:



See the little green smiley face? (Some smarty pointed out that there are actually TWO green smiley faces in the photo).

I don't know if this is why, but I don't believe I've seen Spot crash into this piece of glass since I put the sticker on. The other side of the tank is too far away for him to crash into from his basking platform.

[camee1991]

Thats a cool idea spotsmama! At least for the side that her platform is on. The other side is far away but she always seems to hit it anyhow! She goes off like lightening! She would shoot out of the tank if there were no glass! lol I dont know if she would even pay attention to anything else on the wall there. I already have back paper of seawater on there. Its on the back and sides so she wouldnt get scared so easy in the 1st place. I dunno.....

*shaking my head*

Camee

[fishandcandy]

You could try putting plants on each side. They might not stop her but they at least cushion it a little.

[camee1991]

Hey! Never thought of that. Could by some fake squishy plants maybe with suction cups to put on the ends...(I think they have those)..
Im SURE she would love me for that! And not getting her head busted every time!

Camee

[industrial_girl_2000]

OK...Got a ? ..My girl has a 75 gall tank and basks alot which is fine; BUT when she is startled..(for no apparent reason) She JUMPS off the top of the ramp and goes so fast she hits the other side of the tank and then wiggles and kicks and FREAKS for a while at the bottom. She eventually calms; but it scares me like "will she break her neck"? She is heavy and BIG and that scares me MORE!

Has ANYONE had this problem or have a turt that does this?! Im afraid too that she might break the tank glass by going so hard at it! I dont know why she does it?! I make sure when she is basking and Im coming in that I call her name so she knows Im there and she wont get skittish. But this normally happens when no one is there. Like a momentary FREAK OUT or something...

Any advise!?

Camee

Don't worry, that's totally normal.

Sheba only freaks out when I come barging into my front door (loudly), but even that doesn't bother her so much anymore.

And sometimes Sheba goes diving off her basking dock just for fun in the same way you described ("momentary freakout"). My house is quiet, so who knows what is really going on inside her head.....

I haven't put any padding on the inside of her tank because (quite frankly) she would eat it (she's a monster & attempts to eat everything I put in the tank). ::sigh::

[DavidY]

Maybe put a big red STOP sign on the glass that she keeps crashing into.

Seriously though, I would think that a full speed crash into the side of the tank could be unhealthy. In the wild, these turtles are very easily spooked and will leap into the water swimming full speed to the bottom and away from their basking site at the slightest movement, even from 40ft away! I've tried to sneek up on them from behind in my canoe before and only once was I able to get within 10 ft of one before it disappeared from sight.

Hopefully yours will settle down again soon.

[camee1991]

I hear ya Ind Girl! I just "wonder" whats going on in her head ya know? lol

David- I hope she will settle soon also! Love the STOP sign idea tho...although I wouldnt think that would stop her....hahaha

Camee

[pumpkinsherbet]

haha, that is cute. mine never hits the side of the tank, she makes a beeline for the bottom, crashes there, scuttles a bit then calms down and goes to a hiding spot. john is a calmer swimmer, he just jumps off and steadily makes his way to the hiding spot.